ASU could be forced to close at least one of its four campuses in order to manage budget cuts proposed by the Arizona Legislature, ASU officials said Wednesday.
The proposed budget reductions would cut state funding to the university system by 40 percent next year. That figure is the equivalent of closing up to two ASU campuses, president Michael Crow said in an e-mail to faculty, staff and students.
The proposals, introduced by Senate Appropriations Chair Russell Pearce and House Appropriations Chair John Kavanagh, would force ASU to cut costs by up to $126 million by this July and another $194 million by July 2010, officials said.
“The proposed budget cuts that have come out of the appropriations committees are enormous,” ASU spokeswoman Terri Shafer said. “We could close two campuses and still need to come up with $70 million more.”
There are currently no plans to close any campuses, Shafer said, and all efforts are focused on working with the legislature.
“The University has to wait until we find out about the budget cuts before we can take any action,” she said.
In Crow’s statement on Wednesday, he said that ASU would have to take several additional measures to deal with the cuts.
The University would have to lay off thousands of employees, furlough all remaining employees for at least two weeks, increase tuition and fees and close academic programs in addition to closing up to two campuses, Crow said.
To offset the budget cuts through a tuition increase, tuition for Arizona residents would have to be raised to almost $11,000, he said.
“ASU has taken its share of budget cuts to help the state deal with its revenue shortfall—and we are prepared to do more,” Crow said.
But Sen. Pearce and Rep. Kavanagh singled out education for the largest cuts without considering all options, he said.
“Their plan would reverse all of the progress ASU has made and set the institution back a decade or more,” he said. “Our legislature has failed to live up to its constitutionally mandated responsibility to fund education.”
Reach the reporter at adam.sneed@asu.edu
